Yuno wiggled about for a bit before sitting up and looking at Catia with a small smile. She placed a hand to the fighter's cheek, then hugged her tightly.

"Catia... I need fire." she said after letting go. "I can fix the cracks that way."

Wes watched the exchange between Cerise and Decoda, understanding the teen's anger completely. He felt the egg move a bit, then looked over to Decoda's egg. It was moving as well!

"Already...?" Wes muttered to himself. "How are they hatching this fast? And why here...?"

Both eggs shook under their trainer's grasp, before cracking open. Decoda's egg was the first to reveal what was in it; a very tiny mareeep! This one didn't look like the ones from the farm however. Instead of blue and yellow, it was red and yellow!

"...Meep?" it squeaked, looking up at Decoda for the first time with it shiny black eyes.

Wes's egg cracked open, releasing a pulse. The group could feel any watching and lingering ghosts get pushed away by this pulse. As the shell fell away, the pokemon they only knew as Bansheeon formed out of the ghostly energy in the room.

At the mention of fire, Fox let herself out of her pokeball and out onto the muddy ground nearby. She gave a mew and tried to pad over to Yuno but slipped in the mud and got it all over her face. It made Catia giggle at the tiny little fire fox's antics before petting her head lightly. She turned to Yuno and smiled.

"Fox can help with that. But don't think you're off the hook either. We'll talk about this later."

She told her as Fox gave a loud mew and flopped on the mud again. By now her underbelly was completely covered in mud which made her look adorable when she gave another mew of distress, prompting Catia to giggle again and help the muddy little fox stand up in the slippery mud. Soon afterwards there was a large pulse of energy that came from Wes' egg and she looked back towards him with curious eyes. That was a Bansheeon huh? She sat up with Fox carefully sitting in her lap and smiled at both Wes and Decoda.

"Congratulations you two. Now you've both got a brand new baby Pokemon to nurture and take care of! What're you guys going to name them?"

She asked, truly feeling better about not being one of the only people in their little group with a baby Pokemon in their growing little family. Turning back to Yuno, Catia slowly nudged Fox over to her.

"Fox, go ahead and use your Ember attack on the cracks on Yuno's body okay? It'll help her get better."

She instructed the tiny little fire fox, confident in her pokemon's ability to provide a small amount of flames to help Yuno do whatever she needed to to fix the cracks in her body.

(OOC: I'll just let Luna take Fox's actions from here. I don't really know how the whole crack fixing thing works anyway. ^^; Also congratulations to Rocky and Luna's characters for their eggs hatching! )

The egg hatcher looks down at the pokeball, his palms sweaty from the exchange with Decoda. There was a lot riding on whether or not Cerise could successfully do this... but he needed to have faith. His years spent caring for Pokemon just had to help with Honedge! He clipped the pokeball tohis belt, a bit away from his other three to make sure he wouldn't unknowingly use Honedge instead of one of the actual members of his team.

As the eggs began to hatch, Cerise's eyes widened, remembering something he'd wanted to do. Yanking out his PokeGear again, he flipped down to the Bansheeon egg entry and forwarded the entry to Zoe in a message, certain that she'd find this new egg as interesting as she had. And she might even know something about it? If anything, it was worth a try. And maybe he could help uncover the mystery of Bansheeon through observations about it? And it wasn't lost on the hatcher that Mareep was a drastically different color than the Mareep on the ranch. Between these three strange Pokemon and the ominous Avatars, the team would have quite a bit on their plates.

((Glad you liked the comic, guys! Yay for babies! I think everyone has a baby Pokemon now. Cool!))

With Catia and Yuno solving the fire problem with Fox, Decoda stood off to the side on standby, only to uncap his egg from the carrier as it began to hatch. The tiny Mareep was certainly different-looking than the others at the farm, but that didn't matter much to Decoda. His angry expression from before had morphed into a sad and happy mixture as he held the little squeaky thing.

"You couldn't have waited a little while longer until I felt better, could you?" he asked the little Pokemon in a quiet tone, scratching under its minuscule chin. He mimicked its squeaks for a short while before hearing Catia's congrats and deciding that he should name this one. "Meep. Meep. Meep is your name, now. I'm not very good at it, but it suits your size and voice!"

He gently put the little creature on a nearby gravestone, away from the mud so its fluffy yellow coat didn't get dirty. He collected the pieces of the carrier and took out his Pokedex to check the entry. It was definitely a Mareep, but again, the color wasn't even an indicator on gender like other Pokemon displayed. He hoped it wasn't a mutation from the fires of the barn or just being close to Wes' new Pokemon, but he didn't mind it. It made this one even more special.

"Meep! Come into your new home until we get out of here!" he told it and withdrew it into his second to last spare ball. Putting it away, he quickly looked at Wes' Pokemon, surprised it looked the way it did. Was this a secret Eeveelution? It looked just like one, but why was it not an Eevee first? He didn't want to ask any more questions now, fearful that his head would explode from everything going on at once.

Wes picked up Bansheeon and held it close, Espeon popping out of her ball. Bansheeon leapt down and touched it's nose to the Psychic type's.

"I-It's him..." She whispered, looking up at Wes. "...His essence, at least."

The snagger looked quite shocked at his pokemon's words.

Meep tilted his head at Decoda and 'baah'd' in it's squeaky voice. It lifted a tiny hoof and tapped the ball, letting itself inside.

Several minutes passed after Cerise sent the information to Zoe, he got a reply.

"I asked my parents about this pokemon, an here's what I got:

'Bansheeon, the Soul Keeper Pokemon

DEX 1: In the light it had a solid body, but in shadows it fades into mist. Its gold eyes seem to pierce into ones soul.DEX 2: The lost soul of an EEVEE. It wanders around graveyards, looking for living Pokemon to possess.'

I also called my IM'd my professor. Here's what he has on it:

'Bansheeon, the Soul Warden Pokemon

DEX 1: The lost soul of an EEVEE. Has the chance of being born from the death of an Eeveeloution, and retains all memories.'DEX 2: It may look solid, but BANSHEEON has the ability to phase through walls and become unseen by the naked eye. It's cry is said to bring the feeling of sorrow to those who ear it.'

Sorry I couldn't be of much more assistance, and I can't wait to see you and the egg again!"

Yuno picked up fox, brushing some of the mud off. She held the little pokemon carefully on her lap.

"Little fox, please use ember on me."

Fox mewed as tiny embers spewed from her jaw. The cracks all over Yuno's body slowly began to disappear as the flames continued to make contact with the girl.

Upon receiving the reply back, Cerise's eyes widened as he put the pieces together. He took a step back in surprise, using a nearby gravestone to steady himself. He spoke mere seconds after Espeon had whispered to Wes, talking just loud enough for the others to hear his conclusion. "Bansheeon, could it be that... it's Umbreon...? ...Umbreon was reborn into Bansheeon when it passed away in the fire...!"

He took a breath to try to compose himself, incredibly surprised that something like this had occurred. Cerise had heard stories of Phantump being the reborn souls of lost children, but he'd never given them much credence. But with this revelation? He wiped away the sweat from his brow, a smile tugging at his face -- the world of Pokemon never failed to fascinate! In any case, he should probably reply back to Zoe about this.

-- Incredible...! We actually have one here, a Bansheeon, I mean! It just hatched a few seconds ago from an egg -- I never knew a Pokemon could come into existence like that! Thank you so much for your help Zoe! You rock! ...By the way, you wouldn't happen to know anything about a red Mareep, would you?

P.S. Oh, and Bisharp's egg hatched too! So now I have a little Pawniard -- I'll try to drop by some time to show you in person! --

With the message complete, Cerise paused for a moment before taking pictures of both Bansheeon and Decoda's red Mareep to attach to the message's content. He briefly considered taking one of Pawniard, but why spoil Zoe's eventual surprise like that? With a smile, he pressed the send button on the message and then looked up at the others, specifically Yuno. He didn't want to treat her differently... but she wasn't even human, was she? What would be the right way to talk to her without being offensive...? "Yuno... are you alright?"

Catia was smiling and watching Fox breathe her tiny embers onto Yuno's body, pride shining in her eyes as she watched the tiny fire fox finally proving that she was growing up. It had been so long since they'd first met each other and Catia'd decided to mother it, she was proud to finally be seeing her hard work and dedication in Fox's abilities. As Fox began to finish her work, Catia was about to say something to Yuno about the cracks when she heard Cerise exclaim about Bansheeon possibly being Umbreon, having turned into a new Pokemon and come back from the dead. Hearing Espeon's confirmation as well, her heart skipped a beat and her breath caught in her throat as she froze. Was it really possible? Was this her second chance to finally give Umbreon a proper thank you for what he'd done with his last breaths?

Slowly she turned around to look at Bamsheeon touching noses with Espeon, spotting Wes' shock as well. Seems she wasn't the only one with her breath caught up in her throat. It took her a second to compose herself enough before she slowly and wordlessly got up from where she was, walking over to the newly hatched Pokemon. She knelt down to it and stared at its eyes, narrowing her own as she looked for some trace of the Pokemon she'd once known.

"....U-Umbreon? I-Is that....is that really you?"

She choked out, finally falling into her knees as she continued to stare at the mysterious hatchling.

"Do....do you remember me?"

She asked it, reluctantly holding out a hand for it to sniff. Granted she'd gotten herself covered in mud so her scent probably was gone for the most part. But that wasn't what her mind had been focused on. She didn't believe in Arceus or any Pokemon god for that matter. Even though she's seen him with her own eyes. But if this new hatchling really did remember her, she'd definitely need to thank some kind of power for bringing on such a reunion as this one.

Decoda stayed quiet as Fox drenched Yuno in its fire and Cerise sent messages on his device. He picked up the parts to the egg carrier that he had dropped from the hatching and walked up closer to Wes and the Bansheeon creature that came out of his egg.

It was a remarkable thing that Pokemon could be reborn into other Pokemon; that kind of thing seemed only capable in legends and ancient stories! He had his disbeliefs before, but this flat out confirmed it, as he gazed upon its wisping body and bright yellow eyes. He dared not to question the powers of a psychic type like Espeon. When Catia tried to reintroduce herself, Decoda had his doubts, thinking that it wouldn't be the same... Would it?

He then took his mind off of it and found the stairs leading to the exit. It was free from mud for the most part, so at least no one would slip and fall on their way out. He also kept watch in case anyone decided to come up here, constantly scanning the room for any movement other than his companions.

'Oh wow! An ACTUAL Bansheeon?! You're so lucky!!! I totally gotta see it when you come over again! Speaking of, Blades has been asking about you and little Pawniard! He's excited to see you all again as well. As for the red mareep... I know that pokemon can have alternate coloring; rare, but alternate colors. I know that mareep's alternate color is purple; we have one here! Did the egg go through anything... traumatic? Different stresses can cause different mutations. I'll look into it more for you if you want.

OH! Before I forget, I have information about Rotom for you. You asked a while back, and I did a bit of digging. Here's what I have;

- While it is not known to evolve into or from any other Pokémon, it has the ability to possess the motors of certain appliances and change forms. When Rotom transforms, it learns a new move in the same way that other Pokémon may learn new moves upon evolving. The move is replaced by another if Rotom possesses another object, and is deleted when Rotom transforms back to its normal form. If the only move that Rotom knows right before reverting to its original form is exclusive to its alternate form, then that move will be replaced with Thunder Shock. -

If I find anything else, I'll be sure to let you know.'

The Bansheeon leaned forward and sniffed Catia's hand, then tilted it's head as it looked at her. It seemed confused, for the most part. It let out some sort of noise, sounding much like howling winds, mixed with a sad cry. (Catia would recognize the cry, It sounds quite melodic to Decoda, and to Cerise it sounds like the call of an abandoned pokemon) It closed it's yellow eyes before floating back into Wes's arms.

Catia watched the hatchling Bansheeon sniff her fingers before her heart sank when she saw its reaction to her scent. Her face darkened when she heard its strange cry, a flashback of when she'd first tried to befriend Umbreon coming back to her. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fist while the flashback went through her head. She should've known that the memories Umbreon had of her from before wouldn't have been retained. When had miracles like that ever happened to her?

Silently she stood up from her position, the disappointment and sadness easily visible on her face as she turned to leave. She stopped as she passed Decoda, calling over to Yuno as calmly as possible.

"Come back to the Pokemon center after you're finished here Yuno. I'm going to go back and try to get cleaned up. Then you've got some explaining to do for me."

She told her, not looking at anyone as she spoke. It wasn't that she was mad at anyone or anything like that. She just didn't want anyone to worry about her. Yes, she was upset that she still wasn't able to thank Umbreon properly for apologizing to her before he died. But if she had her way, she'd never let the others know it.

Cerise glanced back down at his PokeNav as it received another message from Zoe. He read through it carefully, going over the sections concerning Mareep with more vigor. Had the egg been through any stresses...? The only thing he could think of right now was the fire, but could that have affected it? He'd have to go over this with Decoda later -- try and see if they could list other possibilities. A smile crossed his face as he read over the section concerning Blades, but it was the cry of Bansheeon that brought him back into the present -- it certainly wasn't the sound Cerise suspected it would make.

In any case, the rest of the group seemed to want to leave the Pokemon Tower, and Cerise could certainly agree with the sentiment. He sent a quick message to Zoe to let her know he'd try and investigate the possible stressors for the Mareep egg and that he appreciated her assistance with his questions. He dusted off his clothes before offering to help Yuno stand up, if she needed it.

Listening to the Bansheon cry made Decoda turn around to witness Wes pick up the creature. It was possibly the most human sound he'd ever heard from a Pokemon, almost like it was singing as sad song. How fitting for the situation...

The buzzing from his gear broke his gaze, picking it up to see Marley's name appear. He felt in no condition to receive this, reluctant to answer and hide all of his stupid fears and worries to avoid her concern for him. Thinking back however, she trusted him enough to play with her and Hagi, and they exchanged numbers for a reason, so maybe hearing a different voice - a voice he hadn't heard since Saffron - would help.

He answered the device as he started down the steps, not interested in disturbing the dead with his conversation any further. He exaggerated his tone to masquerade as a happier Decoda, changing his facial expression to fit his voice. There wasn't any way he could get the mud off him easily, though...

"Heeee-llo, Marley!"

((By the way, I just noticed now that the topics had been split and this is a continuation from the previous thread! Good idea!! I'll go ahead and drop that first part in the finished section!))

Marley's voice came through quietly, and a bit hurriedly. She sounded terrified.

"D-Decoda...? Oh thank Arceus you answered... I-I need your help... P-please, you were the only one I could get into contact with!" She whispered with a shaking voice. "I h-had to smash the screen on my pokegear so they wouldn't take it from me..." Marley sniffled, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. "Th-they took Mirage and Mimi!"

Decoda's expression paled and his tone became much more serious. What was happening? Why was everything so shaky? It wasn't very clear, but it first sounded like she was relieved to talk to him! What could it be that she was in such a hurry for?

"Hang on, Marley, slow down! What-" he began, but cut himself off when she finished what she had to say. Mirage and Mim, Pokenapped?! Suddenly, his heart sank - those two were Marley's amazing dancing Pokemon... He remembered how much she cared for them, to the point of nearly calling off her performance because she feared for their safety on her violin solo... The more her scared, teary voice rang through his ears, the more upset he became.

"Marley, who was it?! Did you see what the culprits looked like?! ...and I didn't want to say this, but... we were attacked recently, too! Our Pokemon weren't stolen, but we were nearly burnt alive in a barn we stayed at near Fuschia!" he told her, rushing faster down the stairs and heading for the exit, not thinking about anything else but her situation. "Are you safe now?! Where are you?! Should I come back to Saffron to see you?!"

"Shhh... Keep you're voice down. I'm screwed if they find I have a way to contact the outside!" She paused, breathing heavily. "I... I'm not in Saffron... I went to Fuchsia to check out the Music Hall that opened there a few weeks ago. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in a cell being questioned about Avatars or whatever! I don't even know what an Avatar is!" She sniffled again. "There was another girl in here... The dragged her away, but she didn't go without knocking a few people out..." Now it seemed like Marley was talking to keep herself from breaking down. "Ah... B-Black hair... A lot of orange... Horns... a patch on her eye I think." She shuddered audibly, then a scream rang out in the background. Marley whimpered quietly. "They... had a symbol on their uniforms..." She then goes on to describe Plasma's Symbol. Heavy footsteps can be heard coming closer.

Catia was walking down the stairs when Decoda rushed past her, bumping into her injured shoulder on accident again and making her cry out in pain. She watched him rush down the stairs and growled again.

Ugh....this stupid busted shoulder of mine is so much more trouble than it was worth!

She thought to herself as she started to rush down the stairs after him, listening quietly to what was going on over the phone on his pokegear. The voice coming from it sounded very familiar but she couldn't figure out who it was off of the top of her head. It wasn't too much longer before they reached the bottom of the stairwell and she heard the girl on his pokegear scream and the call cut off. This instantly made her stop where she was, a slightly fearful look on her face. Hesitantly she approached Decoda a and put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"H-Hey, what's going on Decoda? Who was that you were just talking to? You can talk to me if you want you know. I-I'm here to listen...."

She asked him nervously, knowing that Decoda might yell at her or something strange on accident. This was just based off of her previous experience with Decoda of course, but she was braced for the worst. Just in case....

Decoda's face was empty, pale, and terrified. He felt like he could do nothing, like he was unable to help anyone right now. As he stood there, paralyzed by his own thoughts, he thought about who Marley was talking about - both the other captured girl and the crooks that took them.

Out loud, he breathlessly spoke her name, "Loka."

Catia's gentle shoulder touch did of course, make him jump and spin around to her. It was then that she could see the real fear in his eyes. He quickly lifted up her hand and held onto it tightly, his grip reflecting the pain he felt in his chest. As much as they fought, Catia, Cerise and now Wes and Yuno were the only people Decoda had left to hold on to. He wasn't prepared to experience any more pain than the group had already felt as a whole.

"They've got Marley and Loka! Catia! They've got Marley and Loka! The people with the blue letter on their uniform, they've got them! They're in Fuschia now!" he started yelling, but with more concern in his tone than anger. "Is it any coincidence now?! We were going to Fuschia, we were on that very same path! Marley said she went there for a music thing, but it didn't matter because she said they wanted information on the Avatars! Marley's the one who helped me trap Rotom - she wouldn't know any more than what she saw that day!"

He continued to panic, breathing heavy and grabbing onto Catia's arm. It looked like he was about to cry. "And Loka's the descendant of a Houndoom! She's seen the Avatars! She knows all they'd need! She doesn't deserve this fate, not after all the trouble it took to give her a second chance! Not after everything she's lost!"

He released his grip on the girl and covered his face with his gloves for a brief moment, making a quick noise of agony and shivering from fear. Once he stopped, he took away his hands and shook his head violently.

"I'm going to Fuschia to save them. I don't want any of you to come along for the sake of you getting captured. I don't want to lose--lose my friends!"

"I don't think it's because of you, Yuno..." Cerise murmured softly as he helped her stand up, still a bit shaken from the call of Bansheeon. As the remaining members of the group made their way to the exit, Cerise heard Decoda shouting something from further down the stairs. The egg hatcher didn't catch everything, but the urgency and panic in Decoda's voice made it clear that nothing good had happened. He hurried down the stairs a bit to see Decoda release Catia's hands and exclaim his newfound mission to travel to Fuschia City but go alone.

"Wait a second!" Cerise shouted as he ran up to them. "I'm not sure what's going on, but this doesn't sound like something you should do alone! I know you're easily one of the more experienced trainers here Decoda, but what'll we do if YOU get captured instead? Or worse!"

Catia frowned angrily at Decoda with his decision to go to Fuschia without her and the others to save Loka and Marley. She gave him a painful (but not crippling) punch to his chest.

"You idiot! Loka's our friend not just yours! Besides that, how are you going to get out of a situation like hers without knowing how to do even basic self-defense?! I may not be able to fight but I can at least handle myself with one hand. You wouldn't be able to get in through the front doors!"

She scolded him, putting her hand on her hip and sighing angrily.

"Look, if you really want to save the both of them then your best option is to let us all recover and take us with you. As for the self-defense part, Yuno and I can teach both you and Cerise how to fight for yourselves while we're recovering and on the road to Fuschia. After of course, Yuno and I have a little talk privately. I'm still kind of mad about this whole thing. I need a change of clothes, a new backpack and some basic supplies before I'm going anywhere. And I'm sure we could all use a shower and a good night's rest. Agreed?"

She barks, turning her head to look at everyone. She couldn't believe Decoda would make a decision like this without considering how everyone else felt. This was all of their business, not just his. Catia turned to Yuno after a second and stared her down, her Amber eyes still showing a bit of anger and irritation.

"Yuno, you think I could borrow an outfit from you for tonight? At least until we get a chance to go shopping later?"

She asked her as calmly as she could. She was still a little angry but looking at Yuno she couldn't stay like that for very long. She had a sort of calming effect on her that no one else did.

Wes immediately looked up at hearing that Loka was missing. His eyes narrowed when Decoda mentioned the 'Blue Letter'. Espeon looked up at him worriedly, and Bansheeon shivered slightly as it floated up to Wes's shoulder.

"E-Excuse me..." he muttered as he pushed past the group and rand the rest of the way to the Hotel. Once there, he locked himself in his room. (You guys are free to talk to him once you return to the Hotel) Espeon quickly followed, and the ghost clung to his shoulder.

Yuno looked at Catia and simply nodded to her question about the clothing. When the training was brought up, that's when she spoke.

"A-Ah... I don't think you're in any shape to fight, Catia." She said quietly, looking at the ground bashfully. She wasn't sure if she would be a good enough teacher, after her failure in Surge's Militia.

The pokegear on Decoda's arm lit up as Rotom's face appeared.

"Sir Decoda, would you like me to track Miss Marley's signal? I might be able to pinpoint her location, so that you may execute your rescue mission."

Catia frowned at Yuno in irritation from her bashful answer to her mention of training and fighting in her condition.

"I can at least show these two how to defend themselves if you help me out. Right now though, let's take care of the essentials; a shower, shopping for replacement supplies for what we lost, then you answering some of my questions before we get some much needed rest."

She spoke to the girl, going to take her hand.

"Let's go back to the Pokemon Center for now okay?"

She turns to Decoda and Cerise.

"I dunno about you two, but I for one am dirty and I'm tired of not having any supplies for myself. I'm going to go off with Yuno and take care of some things. We'll meet back up later at the Pokemon Center alright?"

She told them as she gently tugged on Yuno's hand to let her know that she was ready to go when she was.

Yuno sighed deeply, seeing no way to get out of the questions that loomed over the very close horizon. She looked at Catia with large, innocent eyes and made a pouty face.

"O-ok... I'll help teach them, ONLY if they want to be trained. I-I'd rather not force something into them..."

If they were going in for a rescue mission, she would rather teach them the arts of cloak and dagger, but that would take too long. So if needed, she could scope the place out for Decoda and the group then report back. However, this wasn't up to her...

Yuno waved to the others as she and Catia departed for the hotel.

(This is where Catia and Yuno going off to see Arceus and Reshiram will take place. Jake, if you want, we can rp the questions between Catia and Yuno on Facebook.)

Decoda recoiled from the punch, not expecting it and taking all of his limbs back to hold his chest. He looked up from his clutching and listened to her words. After her initial speech, Cerise came running, chiming in with his thoughts on the matter, followed by Wes, who seemed to leave immediately. Yuno came quickly too, looking as disheveled as the rest of them.

He kept silent for the whole ordeal, sweat still beading off of his forehead moving to the side of the stairwell so the girls could pass him. His breathing was heavy but quiet and his face reflected that of someone who was about to cry.

When Rotom appeared beside him, he simply nodded at his suggestion. Maybe he should rely on those who were available to him...

He then turned to Cerise and uttered, "I had no idea a Pokemon journey would be like this..."

"You're telling me!" Cerise said with an exasperated sigh. "Traveling trainers always made it seem more cheery when they passed by the Day Care... But they probably didn't have to deal with Avatars and Legendary Pokemon like we are. In any case, we're here for you, bud! And with how serious this sounds, we may need every resource we can get if we're going to get this done. I'll admit, I was kinda hoping we wouldn't have to have to seriously fight someone with our weapons... But it seems like fighting our way through may be inevitable."

The egghatcher gives Decoda a tired smile and a pat on the shoulder before he heads after the others to the Center. His eyes drift to Honedge's Pokeball, a sense of unease overcoming him. He really hoped he could keep Honedge out of the coming fight. Nobody deserved the malice this particular Pokemon had the potential to unleash.